Monday, March 27, 2017

In epic poetry, the epithet argeiphontes is sometimes substituted unambiguously for the name of Hermes. Traditionally, "argeiphontes" is said to mean "Argus-slayer" and in the accompanying picture, you can see why, assuming you recognize the guy with the sword as Hermes.

Argus, child perhaps of Zeus and Niobe, is the eponymous creature of Argos (Oxford Classical Dictionary). You may be familiar with him as Argus Panoptes, the many-eyed monster whose eyes came to grace the tail of Hera's peacock after Hermes killed him.

Located by the Gulf of Argolis, Argos is an important polis of Greece in the southern section, the Peloponnese, specifically, in the area called the Argolid. It has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The inhabitants were known as Ἀργεῖοι (Argives), a term that is sometimes used for all the Greeks. Argos competed with Sparta for prominence in the Peloponnese but lost.

Argos was named for an eponymous hero.

The more familiar Greek heroes Perseus and Bellerophon are also connected with the city. In the Dorian invasion, when the descendants of Heracles, known as the Heraclidae, invaded the Peloponnese, Temenus received Argos for his lot. Temenos is one of the ancestors of the Macedonian royal house from which came Alexander the Great.

Argives worshiped the goddess Hera in particular. They honored her with an Heraion and annual festival. There were also sanctuaries of Apollo Pythaeus, Athena Oxyderces, Athena Polias, and Zeus Larissaeus (located on the Argive acropolis known as Larissa). The Nemean Games were held in Argos from the end of the fifth century to the late fourth because the sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea had been destroyed; then, in 271, Argos became their permanent home.

Telesilla of Argos was a female Greek poet who wrote around the turn of the fifth century B.C. [See 5th Century Timeline and Archaic Age.] She is best known for rallying the women of Argos against the attacking Spartans under Cleomenes I, in about 494.

Alternate Spellings: Ἄργος

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When male by female is put to flight
And Argos' name with honor is bright
Many an Argive wife will show
Both cheeks marred with scars of woe.

-Pausanias, "Periegesis Hellados"

To restore the balance of the sexes in the city, they did not (despite Herodotus’ claim) marry the women to slaves, but to the best men in the surrounding towns, whom they made citizens of Argos. The women appeared not to show respect for their husbands and despised them when they slept with them as if they were inferior, so they made a law that says that women who have beards must spend the night with their husbands.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Oracle of Apollo Deiradiotes, on the acropolis of Argos. The oracle was given by a prophetess, who was obliged to abstain from matrimonial connections once in every month. She was believed to become inspired by tasting of the blood of a lamb which was sacrificed during the night. This oracle continued to be consulted in the days of Pausanias

Deiradiotes (Deiras -ridge) Oxyderkes (sharp-sighted)

Deiras

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The Criterion of Argos

Criterion

1: a standard on which a judgment or decision may be based the university's criteria for admission

The "Criterion" of Argos, an ancient monument located on the southwest side of the town, on the foot of Larissa hill, which came to have its current structure during the 6th-3rd century BC period. Initially, it served as a court of ancient Argos, similar to Areopagus of Athens. According to mythology, it was at this area where Hypermnestra, one of the 50 daughters of Danaus, the first king of Argos, was tried. Later, under the reigns of Hadrian, a fountain was created to collect and circulate water coming from the Hadrianean aqueduct located in northern Argos. The site is connected via a paved path with the ancient theatre

Street Gounaris of Argos, shortly before the Ancient Theatre, a sign of the archaeological service writes "criterion - Nymphaeum" and pointing right towards the hill, which is on top of the castle Larissa. Few of attention and even fewer have visited this ancient monument of the town, connected to the beginnings of history. So what was this Criterion? According to mythology, Poseidon was paired with Libya, Nile daughter, and had two sons, Agenor and velum. When the children grew, the Agenor went to Phoenicia and made his own kingdom, while Vilos stayed in Egypt, he took the woman sagacity, daughter and that of the Nile, and acquired twin sons, Egypt and Danaos.

The Vilos before dying appointed Danaos as king of Libya, where he founded the temple of Amun, Egypt and the king of Arabia, which he called "Egypt." The Egypt acquired 50 sons and 50 daughters of Danaos, the Danaides. Others say that the children each brother were from the same mother and others that were born from the same father, but most women who had each of his brothers (Europe, Antinoi, Tegea and Kassiepeia).

But once children Vilos, the Egypt and Danaos, clashed because Danaos envied in Egypt, who had male children, while he had only girls. even feared that the sons of Egypt will make their wives and daughters would take power. Danaos then fearing the 50 sons of Egypt, at the oracle of Athena, rigging ship with 50 oars, she and the girls, and she left with his daughters.

First they approached Lindos Rhodes, who was the colony of Argos , where Danaus founded the temple of Lindia Athena. Finally they landed in the village Apovathmoi, today Kiveri, where arrived at Argos. When he arrived there Danaos asked Gelanora, which was then Argos King, to deliver the throne, arguing that great-grandmother was Io, the daughter of Inachos and mistress of Zeus chased by Hera transformed into cow and hid in Egypt. The Gelanoras and Danaos discussing the thing, until night fell without reaching an agreement. They said therefore to think again and decide the next day.

In the morning, just woke up, found in front of an unexpected sight: A wolf was dashing in a cattle herd and the bull, the leader of the pack, trying to block him. The Argos likened the attacker wolf with the newcomer Danaos and defending bull with Gelanora and all agreed to become king of Argos that, the animal will prevail in the duel. So when the wolf devoured the bull, they received King Danaos, who ascended the throne of Argos and did a temple dedicated to Apollo High School, who believed he had sent the wolf. In this myth underlying the relationship of the city with the wolf, which is today emblem of Argos.

Danaos, as king of the city, dedicated to teach letters and cultivating fields in Argos, open wells and irrigate crops and lived happy with his daughters and his subjects. But when men were the sons of Egypt, they took the boats came to Argos and Danaos asked to marry them with his daughters, the Danaides, to forget their hatred. There were objections but the sons of Egypt, not lifted conversation. Danaos, because they do not have the strength to confront them, kamothike fraudulently that accepts their proposal and agreed the marriage of the 50 sons of Egypt with 50 daughters of Danaus.

Before the wedding night, however, Danaos gathered his daughters, gave them a knife and ordered to kill each her husband when he has fallen asleep, threatening with death any flinch and disobeyed his command. The brides, therefore, killed the first night of their marriage men. The murderess all left forever with the defilement and even the underworld sentenced to eternal trying to fill with water leaky jars. This is the famous "bottomless pit."

One of the 50, however, the hypermnestra, who had married the Lygkea because, they say, was pleased with the wedding night, the lad fell in love and out of love and compassion earned him his life. Danaos, to punish the disobedient, the imprisoned and put on trial. This trial was the historic site of ancient Criterion of Argos.

There, according to legend and the story of the traveler Pausanias, the king of Argos Danaos convicted the Ypermistra who disobeyed his order and not killed her husband Lygkea. But Argos, invoking the divine law of Venus, protector of conjugal bed, refused sentencing. So hypermnestra with the help of Venus, who presented a defense witness, acquitted! After this Lynx avenged his brothers, who died unjustly, killed all the Danaides and their father, became absolute master of Argos and was recognized king together with hypermnestra, devoted to the goddess Venus a statue.

The area of Criterion believed that he was at the foot of Larissa, in the flattened area formed over the retaining wall, northeast of the ancient theater at a distance of about 100 meters from it. It consists of an impressive terrace measuring 35CH21 m., In which a central scale lead. A portion of its surface is carved in the rock and the rest based on the mound, which keeps a polygonal terrace wall. The presence of votive inscribed reliefs, depicting the "Epitelides" deities associated with the administration of justice, led to the identification of the building with the "Criterion", court room, perhaps the oldest of the city.

The Vollgraff finds great similarity be late Criterion with the Athenian Areopagus, where Orestes, son of Agamemnon of Mycenae, was acquitted, according to Euripides. This area got its saved configuration in Roman times, from the 6th to the 3rd century BC

In this area the Roman emperor Hadrian , half of the 2nd AD century, built the Nymphaeum, a monumental fountain, type "Nymfeou-Cave" for the collection and channeling of the city of Argos water, carrying the Hadrian's Aqueduct. Hadrian's Aqueduct project of Roman Emperor Hadrian, in the northern part of the city was an aqueduct, a length of approximately 30 kilometers, built with stones and korasani (impermeable mud from broken ceramics), carrying water from the village of Kefalovrysos city of Argos .

The nymphaeum is composed of two tanks for water carved into the rock, from which began the city's main water supply network. Part of the domed structure was carved into the rock, while the rest was built with bricks and had arched roof. The water entering the fountain from a mouth and bounced from the left hand of a statue of Emperor benefactor, located in the center of the building, filling the western transfusion tank. Then the water passed the east tank above a hydraulic scale forming cascade.

Today the "Criterion" and "Nymphaeum" is connected with the ancient theater of Argos with a paved path, offering spectacular panoramic views of the city. On the way there and even a relief on limestone rock, which in the right part of the cavalcade depicts a male figure with horses to walk to the left and the rider holds argeitiki round shield and spear. In the left portion shown crater with tapered leg, where the right to unreel a snake with its head reaches the edge of the vase. The nation has identified with the St. George killing the snake. The relief is dated to the late 4th - early 5th century. Depending relief devotional character have been found at the foot of the hills of Larissa and Shield.

This space of Argos to the history that is lost in the myth remains dormant and untapped today. Citizens ignore the authorities to undermine their attitudes and institutions have not been able until today to seize him, and offered as a space for the realization of quality events. Located at the foot of the historical castle of Argos, provides panoramic views of the city, it has a long history, offers evocative atmosphere, especially during the summer months. Could become the organization of music-theater or other events in its surroundings, after, of course, configured, and can constitute a competitive advantage for the history and the city's cultural life.

The fact that it has no easy access by car can be and advantage. He would give an excellent opportunity for a short walk from the flea market parking up there from the perpendicular to the street Gounari cobbled streets and a walk in the Foroneos area not lacking in charm or the Athenian Plaka old Nafplio.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

"Many think it not only inevitable but entirely proper that liberty give way to security in times of national crisis that, at the extremes of military exigency, inter arma silent leges. Whatever the general merits of the view that war silences law or modulates its voice, that view has no place in the interpretation and application of a Constitution designed precisely to confront war and, in a manner that accords with democratic principles, to accommodate it."

- Antonin Scalia

And can such a Union be trusted to respect any "Constitutional" limit?

Friday, March 10, 2017

“The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the general populace. It is their function to amuse, entertain, and inform, and to inculcate individuals with the values, beliefs, and codes of behavior that will integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society. In a world of concentrated wealth and major conflicts of class interest, to fulfil this role requires systematic propaganda.”

― Noam Chomsky, "Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media"

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Kulaks (Russian: кула́к, tr. kulak; IPA: [kʊˈlak] ( listen), Polish: kułak) "fist", by extension "tight-fisted"; kurkuls in Ukraine, also used in Russian texts (in Ukrainian contexts) were a category of affluent peasants in the later Russian Empire, Soviet Russia, and the early Soviet Union. The word kulak originally referred to independent farmers in the Russian Empire who emerged from the peasantry and became wealthy following the Stolypin reform, which began in 1906. The label of kulak was broadened in 1918 to include any peasant who resisted handing over their grain to detachments from Moscow. During 1929–1933, Stalin's leadership of the total campaign to collectivize the peasantry meant that "peasants with a couple of cows or five or six acres more than their neighbors" were labeled "kulaks".

According to the political theory of Marxism–Leninism of the early 20th century, the kulaks were class enemies of the poorer peasants. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin described them as "bloodsuckers, vampires, plunderers of the people and profiteers, who fatten on famine". Marxism–Leninism had intended a revolution to liberate poor peasants and farm laborers alongside the proletariat (urban and industrial workers). In addition, the planned economy of Soviet Bolshevism required the collectivisation of farms and land to allow industrialisation or conversion to large-scale agricultural production. In practice, government officials violently seized kulak farms and killed resisters; others were deported to labor camps.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Donald Trump's January 20 inaugural address was ideology at its purest, its simple message relying on a series of obvious inconsistencies. At its most elementary it sounded like something that Bernie Sanders could have said: I speak for all you forgotten, neglected and exploited hardworking people. I am your voice. You are now in power. However, beyond the obvious contrast between these proclamations and Trump’s early nominations (Rex Tillerson, the voice of exploited, hardworking people?), a series of clues give a spin to his messaging.

Trump talked about Washington elites, not about capitalists and big bankers. He talked about disengaging from the role of the global policeman, but he promises the destruction of Muslim terrorism. At other times, he has said he will prevent North Korean ballistic tests and contain China’s occupation of South China Sea islands. So what we are getting is global military interventionism exerted directly on behalf of American interests, with no human-rights and-democracy mask. Back in the 1960s, the motto of the early ecological movement was “Think globally, act locally!”

Trump promises to do the exact opposite: “Think locally, act globally.” In the 20th century, one need not proclaim “America first!” It was a given. The fact that Trump proclaimed it indicates that in the 21st century American global interventionism will go on in a more brutal way. Ironically, the Left, which has long criticized the U.S. pretension to be the global policeman, may begin to long for the old days when, in all its hypocrisy, the United States imposed democratic standards onto the world.

Yet, the most depressing aspect of the post-electoral period in the United States is not Trump’s policies, but the Democratic Party establishment’s reaction to its historic defeat: an oscillation between two extremes, the horror at the Big Bad Wolf called Trump and its obverse, the normalization of the situation, the idea that nothing extraordinary happened. On the one hand, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said he detected in Trump’s inaugural address something “Hitlerian.” On the other, Politico’s John Bresnahan reported that Nancy Pelosi “repeatedly brings up the events of a decade ago. For her, the lesson is clear—past is prologue. What worked before will work again. Trump and the Republicans will overreach, and Democrats have to be ready to jump at the opportunity when they do.”

In other words, Trump’s election is just another reversal in the normal exchange of Republican and Democratic presidents—Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama and now Trump. Such a stance totally ignores the real meaning of Trump’s election: the weaknesses of the Democratic Party that rendered this victory possible and the radical restructuring of the entire political space that it announces.

But what if his project of moderate protectionism, large public works and job creation, combined with anti-immigrant security measures and a new perverted peace with Russia, somehow works and gives some short-term results? That is what horrified left liberals really fear: that Trump will somehow not be a catastrophe.

We should not succumb to such panic. Even if Trump will appear successful, the results of his politics will be ambiguous at best for ordinary people, who will soon feel the pain of this success. The only way to defeat Trump— and to redeem what is worth saving in liberal democracy—is to detach ourselves from liberal democracy’s corpse and establish a new Left. Elements of the program for this new Left are easy to imagine. Trump promises the cancellation of the big free trade agreements supported by Clinton, and the left alternative to both should be a project of new and different international agreements. Such agreements would establish public control of the banks, ecological standards, workers rights, universal healthcare, protections of sexual and ethnic minorities, etc. The big lesson of global capitalism is that nation states alone cannot do the job—only a new political international has a chance of bridling global capital.

An old anti-Communist leftist once told me the only good thing about Stalin was that he really scared the big Western powers, and one could say the same about Trump: The good thing about him is that he really scares liberals.

After World War II, Western powers responded to the Soviet threat by focusing on their own shortcomings, which led them to develop the welfare state. Will today’s left-liberals be able to do something similar?

Slavoj, my friend, doubling down on the "Stupid of the Elites" is NOT the answer.

Friday, March 3, 2017

“I’ve no idea really. I still class myself as a mod to be honest – not in the stereotypical sense, not in the way that people see mods. I’d rather class myself as someone who is trying to push it forward a little bit, and avoid the things that so-called mods talk about. I like a nice haircut but not all the other shit that surrounds the culture. I like a nice pair of shoes like anyone, and I still class myself as a mod, but I refuse to be bunged in with all those other fucking wankers.”

British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, was a British department store chain with branches mainly located in high streets or shopping centres, primarily selling clothing and household items. It was founded in 1928 by a group of U.S. entrepreneurs.[5]

In its later years, the company began to expand into furniture, electronics, entertainment, convenience groceries and fragrance and beauty products. The company had 164 stores throughout the United Kingdom at the time it entered administration, and 74 international stores across 18 separate territories.[6]

BHS was previously a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, but was bought by Sir Philip Green in 2000 and taken private. The company became part of Green's Arcadia Group in 2009.

On 12 March 2015, BHS was sold to the consortium Retail Acquisitions Ltd for a nominal price of £1.[7] On 25 April 2016 it was confirmed that the chain had entered administration, following the failure to bring an estimated £60 million into the business, required to safeguard its future.[8]

On 2 June 2016 it was announced that the company would be wound down following failed attempts to find a buyer.[9] The website was closed on 25 July 2016 and all stores had closed by 28 August 2016, bringing a close to trading after 88 years.

The overseas franchises and digital business were sold during the administration period to Al Mana Group, and continue to trade. The remainder of the business went into liquidation on 2 December 2016.

The cunt with the gut and the Buzz Lightyear haircut
Callin' all the workers plebs
You better think about the future
You better think about your neck
You better think about the shit hairdo you got mate
I work my dreams off for two bits of ravioli
And a warm bottle of Smirnoff
Under a manager that doesn't have a fuckin' clue
Do you want me to tell you what I think about you, Cunt?
I don't think that's a very good idea—do you?
You pockmarked four-eyed shit-fitted shirt, white Converse
And a taste for young girls
Don't send me home with a glint in my eye
I told my family about the fuckin' wage rise
And got fucked on
Devoured
Puked on
And sucked up
You fuckin' fly
The suction on your fly feet
Kept me pinned to the blinds
Whilst your PA rattled out e-mails
Workstation, forced to engage in flirtatious conversation

Fizzy * 3

Well just to keep the job
Just to keep fuck all from turning into a fuckin' nothin' blob
Bang it out; go on tell me what you really think
You got no chin; an' you got no balls to chin 'em with
Glass panels separate you
The mid-price handwash from the bin of used
Public toilet paper towels
We've run foul of the hidden hatred
That festers in dogs like you
Tripwire taut that makes way for the vacuum
Ya piece of fuckin' shit
My name:

Fizzy! [* 3]

Use the sheet of promise and the red shoes of Dorothy
Blanked out on the bed of thick monotony
With the usual stereotypes that fall for the lipI fuckin' hate rockers; fuck your rocker shit
Fuck your progressive side, sleeve of tattoos
Oompa Loompa blow me down with a feather
Cloak and dagger bollocks

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Buckshot LeFonque was a musical group project of Branford Marsalis. The name Buckshot LeFonque was a pseudonym used by jazz saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley for contractual reasons on the album Here Comes Louis Smith (1958). After playing with Sting, Miles Davis and other artists, Marsalis founded this band to create a new sound by merging classic jazz with rock, pop, R&B and hip-hop influences.

Links

On Redemption

To redeem the past and to transform every ‘It was’ into an ‘I willed it thus!’ – that alone I call redemption!

Nietzsche, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"

->

Andrei Tarkovsky

“We can express our feelings regarding the world around us either by poetic or by descriptive means... I prefer to express myself metaphorically. Let me stress: metaphorically, not symbolically. A symbol contains within itself a definite meaning, certain intellectual formula, while metaphor is an image. An image possessing the same distinguishing features as the world it represents. An image — as opposed to a symbol — is indefinite in meaning. One cannot speak of the infinite world by applying tools that are definite and finite. We can analyse the formula that constitutes a symbol, while metaphor is a being-within-itself, it’s a monomial. It falls apart at any attempt of touching it."